Demons and the Machine Gun
by Cari0
Summary: Two demons wish to kill Gohan. Three people in his life try to kill him. Who are the two being manipulated? Who is the true guilty one? Gohan/Piccolo Mentions of Goku/Vegeta. Based on the english translation of the song "The Talking Demon and the Machine Gun", sung by Gumi. POV changes every chapter.


Title: Demons and the Machine Gun

Rating: T

Genre: Romance/Adventure

Characters: Gohan, Piccolo, Goku, Vegeta

Summary: Two demons wish to kill Gohan. Three people in his life try to kill him. Who are the two being manipulated? Who is the true guilty one? Gohan/Piccolo Mentions of Goku/Vegeta.  
Based on the english translation of the song "The Talking Demon and the Machine Gun", sung by Gumi. POVs change every chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own the song this story is based on, the original plot of the song, and lastly, I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of it's characters. I'm just borrowing them so I can play.

**Chapter warnings: This chapter has mentions of Goku/Vegeta although there is nothing physical**

A/N: While this is based on the english translation of a song, the original plot of the song has been greatly changed to fit my story's needs. The original song has a similar concept but the plots are very different. This story takes place 3 years after the cell games end. Also, Gohan knows Videl already and had also had multiple encounters with her father, Hercule, in this fic... I don't predict this story going on for too many chapters as it is completely based on a three and a half minute song, after all. But who knows? Now onto the story.  
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Chapter 1

**Goku's POV**

I felt worry pool in my gut at what I was told. It had been 3 years since Cell was defeated and I was killed. I was with King Kai, Gregory and Bubbles on snake when Baba had shown up with her crystal ball, stating that an event of great importance was about to happen in the lives of my family and friends. So King Kai, Gregory, Bubbles and I listened in through the crystal ball while Baba teleported to earth to give the group a warning of some kind.

I looked closely at the group trying to pick out things that had changed amongst them. Gohan was definitely taller than he was before. He was standing next to Piccolo so I used him to figure out how tall Gohan had gotten. While Gohan reached piccolo's waist when I died, he now reached to the lower forth of Piccolo's chest. I'm slightly glad that Piccolo wan't going to grow any taller as that made him a good way to keep track of Gohan height. Gohan wore the same outfit he had worn while he fought Cell, sans the cape. He also still had his hair in the same style. All that really changed about Gohan so far was that he had grown taller and had lots a noticeable amount of baby fat, though he wasn't quite at the lanky teen stage yet.

I also noticed other curious things about the group. Chi-Chi didn't show, which didn't surprise me. At least Bulma and Vegeta had remained good friends after their divorce, though Bulma allowed Vegeta to have custody of the small baby Trunks as she didn't believe she could provide the care that a half-Saiyan baby needs on her own while she knew Vegeta was fully capable of doing so. I'm happy that things worked out for them but I have to admit that I am a little envious of it as well. Bulma took it well enough that Vegeta was leaving her because he loved me more. Of course she had a fit at first but she later allowed Vegeta to explain his reasons and then she accepted them. I didn't get any such luck with Chi-Chi. She had thrown all manners of abuse at me, both physical and emotional. Some of the things she had said about Gohan and I being monsters still stung. Yet she still kept my son in her clutches while tossing me out of the house. To this day I still do not know how Gohan managed to escape her so that he could fight against Cell with us. I am pretty sure both Vegeta and Piccolo had a hand on it though. Then I noticed something strange.

Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta, and Bulma seemed particularly wary of their surroundings and were standing sort of huddled together in a group. I noticed young Trunks in the arms of his mother then I noticed a small bundle in Vegeta's arms that looked like another child. He was a year younger than Trunks it seemed though they were roughly the same size. I contemplated it, wondering if Bulma had been pregnant during the Cell Games. But as I looked closer at the child. I was able to see his stunning resemblance to me. Perhaps Chi-Chi had conceived the boy before I broke up with her and hadn't yet told me before I did so. It was also likely that she simply didn't know although I doubted that theory a little. But why would Vegeta be holding the child? Unless...

I smiled brightly at the little group of people I saw. Vegeta had kept his promise. I can still easily remember what I made him promise to be before we fought Cell.

_We had been sparring in preparation for the Cell games. It was a week after I had separated from Chi-Chi. While I was happy to be free of her controlling ways, I was very worried about Gohan at the time and was frightened at what may happen to my son after the Cell Games were over. Particularly if I died during them. So I asked Vegeta if we could rest fro a bit as I had something I needed to talk to him about. Vegeta stood completely still for a second, in the middle of throwing a punch at my face. He contemplated for a few seconds then he looked me in the eyes. I must have had a pretty serious look in them as he nodded without any argument and sat cross-legged on the ground. _

_ I sat in front of him in the same fashion and grabbed one of his gloved hands in each of my own gloveless ones, lightly holding on to them and letting them rest in the space between us. This prompted Vegeta to raise an eyebrow slightly but I didn't get another reaction out of him. I tried to figure out how to word what I wanted to ask of Vegeta but when I looked at him, I remembered that he was not Chi-Chi and that I could as blunt and direct with him as I wanted while he would probably just take it in stride. So that's what I did. I told him of how my wife had reacted to me when I told her. When I told him that I didn't manage to get Gohan from her, Vegeta growled slightly with slight anger at Chi-Chi and quite a bit of worry for my son's wellbeing. This made me feel better about what I was about to ask him. I knew that he wouldn't refuse now. _

_ "Vegeta," I said, slightly fidgeting under my partner's gaze. "As you know, this will be a dangerous battle and any one of us may not make it out alive. You also know that if I die, I can't be wished back as I already have been once before. If I die and you make it out I alive then I need to ask you to do something for me. I'd like to ask you to find some way to get Gohan out of that house and I would also like to know if you would be willing to take care of him alongside Trunks. I know it's a lot to ask of you but I can not leave that boy to deal with Chi-Chi alone. Especially if I die. Knowing her, she'd find some way to blame Gohan and take my death and my breaking up with her on him. Please?" I had been looking into Vegeta's eyes the whole time I had asked him. I had been easy to see his concern fro Gohan and anger at Chi-Chi grow as I had continued to explain the favor to him. I also though I saw a little pride for me in his eyes, as if he was proud of the lengths I was willing to go to keep Gohan safe from Chi-Chi. Vegeta hadn't responded vocally to the deal but he nodded his consent, making me smile happily at him. We sat there for a minute, basking in the relaxed atmosphere around us. Suddenly, though, the peace of the moment was broken when Krillin came to fetch us, saying the the tourney was about to begin._

As I came back t the present I looked at the crystal ball and leaned in to hear Baba speak to them. She said that there were a couple of demons that held a grudge against one of the people who was there and that they were on their way to kill the person. Almost everybody assumed that they had a grudge against Piccolo for becoming good. Even Piccolo himself thought so. But then Gohan spoke up, saying that didn't seem accurate, stating that they would have attacked by now if it were Piccolo they were mad at. I noticed that his voice hadn't begun to change yet, the youthful chirp still the same as I remembered it. I began to listen again as Baba replied that Gohan was right. It wasn't Piccolo who they were after. Piccolo then asked who it could be and Baba pointed right at Gohan, almost as if accusing him of something. Gohan put on a brave face but if you looked in his eyes you could see he was terrified. I would have been, too. You don't want a demon to be the one holding a grudge against you.

I then noticed something interesting. The group around Gohan made up of Piccolo, Vegeta and Bulma, as well as the two young boys, huddled closer together when she said Gohan was their target, as if to protect him. Gohan meanwhile, seemed to huddle closer to Piccolo in his fear. I also heard a slight sound of growling coming from both Vegeta and Piccolo. It made me wonder what kind of relationship that small fraction of the group shared together. It was almost as if they were a small family unit. Perhaps, in my absence, that was what they had become. After all, with three children to take care of, Vegeta would undoubtedly need help taking care of them a lot of the time. It only made sense that Bulma, Piccolo and, perhaps to a certain extent, Gohan would be helping him take care of the smaller children. I sighed then as i realized how much I was missing in the otherworld. Not only was my son in danger and I was powerless to help, but I didn't get to personally be a part of that close-knit family unit. I guess that's just where dying gets you.

What do you think about it so far? Tell me in a review and no flames, please.


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